Rocket sightings are commonplace from UCF’s campus and Acrisure Bounce House, whose 50-yard-line is on the same latitude as NASA’s historical Launch Complex 39A. But for a crowd of dozens gathered on Monday on the concourse of the football stadium, this wasn’t a typical “launch.”

Five toddlers from Greater Orlando and the I4-Corridor were on site to receive space-themed motorized cars built especially for them by UCF student-athletes, physical therapy doctoral candidates from , and healthcare professionals from Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute.

A national, community-based research, design and outreach program, Go Baby Go! provides accessible and inexpensive solutions for kids and adults with limited mobility at no cost to their families.

Nicholas Antoine ’25, a senior defensive back on the football team from Daytona Beach, Florida, who graduated last December with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, jokes his construction skills need some improvement, but he was thrilled nonetheless to be an active part of the collaboration that made an impact for the families.

“Being able to bring joy to somebody else, there’s no greater joy than that,” Antoine says.

A total of 10 cars were built ahead of the 10^th anniversary of the UCF football team’s Space Game, an annual event that celebrates UCF’s reputation as America’s Space University.

The Space Game presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute is now one of the signature events of a larger Space Week held at the university, which launches Oct. 25. The football team will take on Baylor University on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Monday’s build is yet another example of how the beloved tradition’s impact has spread beyond an annual football game. It continues to illustrate UCF’s integral role as a driver of impact for Central Florida, whether in the space industry, health sector or beyond.

“When we look at the Space Game, we’re excited to be in that same space to walk alongside these athletes and create an opportunity that celebrates all the things that we do here at UCF,” says UCF Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Jennifer Tucker ’23PhD.

The Magic of Go Baby Go!

Tucker started UCF’s chapter of Go Baby Go! in 2015 and has led an average of 10 to 15 workshops annually — just like the one held Monday in Athletics Village — to benefit children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old with mobility issues stemming from Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and osteogenesis, among others.

Over the last decade, UCF’s Go Baby Go! has built up such a reputation that prospective students talk about it in their interviews as they look to gain acceptance into the doctoral physical therapy program.

It’s gone international, too, with partnerships in Belgium and Wales. It has welcomed students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Sciences and College of Medicine all interested in contributing their talents.

UCF’s students are a key component that keeps the engine running. Philanthropy is another.

Orlando Health, a UCF Pegasus Partner and a premier sponsor for UCF Athletics, has been one of Go Baby Go!’s biggest supporters since its inception as part of its mission to advance education, research, workforce development and community impact across Central Florida. It’s often personal for the clinical teams at Orlando Health who participate in these builds, since many of the recipients are longtime patients.

“It’s exciting to work alongside our partners UCF Athletics and UCF Go Baby Go! to help create this special event for these families,” says Sara Osborne ’14 ’17MHA, Orlando Health senior director of community benefit. “Go Baby Go’s mission aligns with Orlando Health as we look for ways to support our communities beyond the clinical care we provide every day. We’re proud to help play a part in making increased mobility and independence possible for these kids.”

Kid-Sized Astronauts Ready for Warp Speed

Sean Calamigan ’23 kneels next to 2-year-old Griffin Bordner, who had just plopped happily into his custom-fitted “space ship” and was already testing the sound level on his “go for launch” horn.

The third-year physical therapy doctoral candidate playfully warns the toddler of speed limits inside the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership.

Griffin’s parents look on with mile-wide smiles. His father hails from a family of Knights who have been football season ticket holders since the 1990s. His mother, Jennifer Bordner ’15MEd, graduated with a master’s in exceptional student education.

They were referred by their son’s care team to apply to UCF’s Go Baby Go program! and underwent their first consultation in May. As Griffin test drove along the concourse of Acrisure Bounce House on Monday, Jennifer was already envisioning her son in their neighborhood’s cul-de-sac, spinning his wheels alongside his older sister.

“Griffin is a happy, joyous little boy. There is nothing that slows him down — he just goes, goes, goes, but he’s normally in a stroller while his sister is on her bike or scooter. This opportunity is so exciting for him to be included in that fun,” she says. “It just gives me chills knowing that there are that many people in the community and organizations who donate the cars to allow kids with mobility issues the opportunity to be included in their communities, just to get out and play and have fun.”

UCF faculty and physical therapy students took meticulous steps ahead of the build day to ensure the vehicles would have everything they needed to launch smoothly. Each child was individually assessed to determine communication, seating and positioning needs for his or her set of wheels, and a team of volunteers assisted with a workshop to pre-wire the cars and pack kits with the necessary tools and supplies.

Faculty from the made the experience extra special for the recipients by innovating a switch-activated plush toy rocket that lights up they could take home as a memento along with their car.

Calamigan, who spent his entire morning working at the event despite a final exam on his calendar at 1 p.m., says nothing compares to the practical, hands-on experience and witnessing the families’ reactions and delight to cars they worked on so diligently.

“I think the UCF DPT program really prepares us for a lot of things, but one of the main things they do for us is make sure we’re ready to face the real world, and this is the real world,” Calamigan says.

And it’s a real world that, at the end of the day, Tucker aims to make feel a little more connected.

“We’re providing an opportunity for play, and play is a universal shared rite of passage of childhood. But we’re also building community,” Tucker says. “My hope is that the impact of today extends far outside of this moment in time, and it helps us build a better community and a better tomorrow for Central Florida.”

Neely, a board-certified neurological physical therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience in the acute care setting, has been involved with interprofessional education and collaborative practice since 2007. As the associate program director and the director of clinical education for the Division of Physical Therapy, she has helped pioneer the development of interprofessional education curriculum for the College of Health Professions and Sciences. With a grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Neely has been collaborating across disciplines at UCF to promote health and wellness among healthcare professionals and students to decrease the risk of burnout.

Neely has taught graduate students at UCF since 2018 and is the recipient of multiple recognitions for excellence in research and teaching, including the Katherine Harris Educator Award from the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy in 2022, an honor that recognizes an outstanding physical therapy educator whose professional involvement and contribution has significantly impacted acute care physical therapy education.

Neely has a multitude of peer-reviewed publications, coupled with numerous state and national conference presentations on interprofessional and clinical education. She is also a member of the Florida Physical Therapy Association, the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy and the American Physical Therapy Association.

Neely holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi and a doctorate in physical therapy from Old Dominion University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership at UCF.

“It is an honor to be part of an organization that values and promotes interprofessional education and practice,” Neely says. “When we work together, our patients receive better care and have better outcomes. Interprofessional education is my passion and I look forward to working with others who also share this passion to advance healthcare education.”

Tucker, a board-certified pediatric physical therapist with over 28 years of experience, has been involved in advancing interprofessional education and practice through decades of teaching, service and research.

Tucker’s clinical practice includes a focus on those with complex needs who receive integrated care from interprofessional teams. As the director ɫ���� Go Baby Go!, a program dedicated to interdisciplinary research, community outreach and advocacy for children and adults with motor impairments, and — director of the Early Mobility and Play (EMAP) Lab, a lab designed to address access, mobility, participation and play among special populations, Tucker has been instrumental in expanding the college’s interprofessional education and embedding its practice. Tucker and Assistant Professor Julie Feuerstein also co-direct Mighty Knights, a collaborative program between the Division of Physical Therapy and the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders that provides unique, community-based enriched play experiences for infants and toddlers with complex medical conditions like cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

Tucker has received various awards acknowledging her contributions to the field, including the Societal Impact Award in 2022 for her community service initiatives and the for her innovative delivery of educational content and learning opportunities for students. She also volunteers on interprofessional clinical teams to provide care to children and adults in Central Florida.

Tucker’s research focuses on community-embedded interventions to promote play and participation in children with and without disabilities. Tucker has an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications and has presented nationally and internationally on novel opportunities for mobility and play, interprofessional education and community partnerships. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Tucker holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Indianapolis, a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of South Alabama, and a Ph.D. in exceptional education from UCF.

“I am honored to be recognized by the National Academies of Practice,” Tucker says. “I am excited to be a part of an organization that shares similar values of the power of interprofessional education and practice.  I look forward to engaging with other members to explore best practices for educating students and providing care for our patients.  Working together with other healthcare professions keeps our focused centered on improving improving the lives of the patients we serve.”

Other interdisciplinary academies within the NAP include allopathic and osteopathic medicine, athletic training, audiology, dentistry, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatric medicine, psychology, respiratory care, social work and veterinary medicine.

Neely and Tucker become the third and fourth members of the College of Health Professions and Sciences to be inducted into the NAP. In 2023, and .

The two joined forces to create the Mighty Knights program — a unique, community-based enriched play experience for infants and toddlers with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Rett syndrome and other complex medical conditions. In the program, Feuerstein and Tucker use communication and mobility supports to offer playdates that include art, music, movement and sensory exploration at local parks, playgrounds, a local family-fun farm and inside UCF’s Since starting the program in Spring 2022, there have been eight play sessions held, with five to 10 families attending each event.

The Mighty Knights name draws from UCF’s mascot and reflects a recognition of the unique strengths and abilities of the young children who participate. “We like to think of this program as empowering our littlest knights to learn and grow,” Feuerstein says.

The Mighty Knights program is made possible through a philanthropic gift from the Bailes Family Foundation.

“We know that children’s development doesn’t unfold in silos,” Feuerstein says. “Their motor communication, social emotional and cognitive skills are integrated such that development in one area influences development in other areas. Our philosophical approach is that we need to treat the whole child.”

The most recent playdate in October included a visit to the Peppa Pig Theme Park, in partnership with Merlin’s Magic Wand Foundation. While there, children and their families were able to enjoy the park with the help of specially designed assistive equipment. Supports like a 10 foot-by-10-foot mobile harness system gave children who aren’t yet standing on their own the opportunity to play in an upright position in the sand area, and both high- and low-tech augmentative and alternative communication supports like adaptive switches encouraged children to communicate with their parents and other children in the program.

“We provide an environment where we can support children in both exploring and learning so they can engage like all other children,” Tucker says. “The work we are doing is as much about advocacy and inclusion as it is development.”

The Mighty Knights Program also serves as a rich, hands-on learning experience for undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Health Professions and Sciences. Students connect across disciplines, problem solve, and learn new skills for working with special populations, helping to prepare them to be both creative thinkers and clinically competent in their healthcare careers.

The Peppa Pig Theme Park playdate was the second event in partnership with Merlin’s Magic Wand, with the first being a playdate at the SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium.

Vives University College presented 6-year-old Briek Torresan from Belgium with the chapter’s first modified ride-on toy vehicle on Oct. 24. Go Baby Go! chapters around the world modify Fischer-Price and other toy electric cars by adding lumbar support and a button on the steering wheel so the child can go with the push of a button instead of a foot pedal. These modifications allow kids with mobility impairments to operate the toy vehicles on their own and ultimately, learn from their surroundings.

“The cars open the child’s concept of exploration,” said Jennifer Tucker, director ɫ����’s Go Baby Go! chapter. “We often hear their first laugh, we see more interaction between the child and their siblings, and more.”

When mobility is limited, children wait for the world to come to them. Go Baby Go! creates a way for children to explore the world and learn on their own, Tucker said.

Vives became a UCF partner in December 2015 when an interuniversity agreement was established. While visiting UCF last year to explore partnership opportunities, Vives faculty were introduced to Go Baby Go!. Martine Vanryckeghem, a Belgium native and professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at UCF, made it a point to introduce the Vives faculty to Tucker, who founded UCF’s Go Baby Go! chapter in 2015.

“We were mostly touched by the social effect … and we were impressed by hearing witnesses talking about the fact that a child starts to produce the first sounds as an effect of driving the car,” said Kristof Dewaele, head of International Office – Biotechnology & Paramedical Professions at Vives. “Of course, seeing a video of a kid smiling when driving the car might be the most convincing argument to start a Go Baby Go! Belgium project.”

Go Baby Go! at Vives is shaping up to be an interdisciplinary effort, said Hilde Roeyers, chair of Vives’ Speech Language Pathology/Audiology Bachelor of Science program. To modify its first car, the Vives chapter collaborated with the college’s Department of Electronics and Industrial Sciences and Technology to rewire the car and add sensors to prevent Briek from driving into objects. Students, lecturers and researchers from Vives’ speech language pathology and health care education departments also will contribute to the Go Baby Go! chapter.

The new chapter also is intended to create collaborative research opportunities with UCF. For instance, qualitative research could be conducted on how involvement in an outreach program like Go Baby Go! impacts college students who contribute to it, said Tucker.

“We believe students gain a greater perspective on what it is they’re fighting for in this career,” she said. “We [at UCF] haven’t been able to slow down to lay the infrastructure for research, but this partnership gives us an opportunity to do that.”

Vanryckeghem moved to the United States from Belgium in 1989 and since has maintained professional relationships back home that led to the interuniversity agreement and now to the new Go Baby Go! chapter. Beyond academia and research, Go Baby Go! gives her a chance to help teach the children in her family back home in Belgium about giving back. In lieu of birthday and holiday gifts, she has asked her great nieces, nephews and goddaughter, all between the ages of 3 and 6, to save their money in their piggy banks to donate to Vives’ Go Baby Go!. Vanryckeghem and her family sponsored the cost of Briek’s car.

Vives hopes to build 10 cars in its first year, and will look to community donations – including a nationwide philanthropic tradition in Belgium called Warmest Week before Christmas – to raise money to modify more cars for children.

Grow and Play is an eight-week program designed by Jennifer Tucker and Nicole Dawson that pairs seniors averaging 80 years old and children averaging 9 years old to play games together such as Duck Duck Goose, Egg on a Spoon, Sly Fox, Monkey in the Middle and more. The goal is for participants to become more active and to have positive social experiences, where the adults feel a greater sense of wellbeing and purpose by helping the children, and the kids learn more about aging.

“So far what we’re seeing is really positive,” said Dawson, an assistant professor of physical therapy. “We feel if you can enhance the intergenerational bond, you can enhance the community.”

Grow and Play began June 5 and will conclude July 26. Tucker, Dawson and physical-therapy students will analyze data from a week before the program to a week after the program on activity levels, mood and each generation’s perception of the other. Accelerometers are measuring participants’ activity levels, and surveys are measuring changes in moods and perceptions.

“Children may have older adults in their lives with chronic diseases and that influences their [children’s] thoughts on aging,” said Tucker, a physical-therapy lecturer. “They may grow up thinking that’s how aging is for everyone. We’d love to change that perception.”

For Bella Seagraves, 8, Grow and Play has showed her that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean slowing down.

“I’ve had loads of fun with them [the older adult participants],” Bella said. “At first I thought they were going to be slow, but then as soon as I played a game with them they were really fast and really fun.”

Jean Walker, 83, joined the first cohort of Grow and Play because she liked the idea of seniors and children being the subjects of research. Plus, it’s a chance for her to better understand Generation Z.

“I see things differently than the children do, so this is an opportunity for me to find out what the younger people are thinking,” Walker said. “Plus, it gives kids an opportunity to learn what our limitations are and what we did as youngsters.”

Walker played Jacks and Pick-up Sticks as a kid – games the young participants of Grow and Play didn’t know – so she was able to teach them something new.

Fifteen participants up to 90 years old and as young as 6 years old make up the first cohort of Grow and Play that’s being held at Wekiva Presbyterian Church, which was donated for use of the program twice a week. Most of the adult participants are residents of Village on the Green retirement community, which UCF’s physical-therapy program has partnered with in the past for student clinical affiliations, balance and fall screenings for residents and more. The children participants were recruited by word of mouth, mostly through the church.

A nearly $5,000 grant from the Learning Institute for Elders at UCF gave Tucker and Dawson enough funds to get their idea for Grow and Play off the ground.

“There’s definitely potential for this program to grow, and we’d love to see this be something that’s running year-round,” Dawson said. “We hope to eventually be able to give this to other community organizations so they can run it on their own.”

Tucker and Dawson are searching for other grants and community support to expand Grow and Play. They intend to publish results by the end of the year of the first cohort, which could fill a gap that exists in scientific literature on intergenerational connections and physical activity.

To the originators’ knowledge, Grow and Play is the first of its kind.

Orlando Health is sponsoring a UCF Go Baby Go! event at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in downtown Orlando. UCF Go Baby Go! was established in 2015 as a chapter of the national Go Baby Go! program, which develops innovative, accessible ways to improve the lives of children and adults with limited mobility. The program creates modified ride-on toy cars for young children and portable-assistive harness systems for children and adults.

Jennifer Tucker, who runs the program at UCF and is a lecturer in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, will provide a workshop for parents and physical therapists from Orlando Health. Tucker will address how important mobility is for a child’s development and she will talk about the local and national efforts of Go Baby Go!

“This is about independent mobility,” Tucker said. “We know that getting children mobile isn’t just a necessary part of their physical therapy. It is also a critical part in a child’s socialization, growth and future potential. This is about so much more than a car. This is about giving a child an opportunity at a future that includes not being left on the sidelines as their peers move ahead.”

Afterwards, the attendees will join UCF volunteers who will help them build the modified ride-on toy cars at the hospital. Nine children will be able to take the vehicles home. One car will stay at the hospital to give pediatric patients an opportunity for a fun driving experience during hospital stays.

Orlando Health is sponsoring a UCF Go Baby Go! event at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children

in downtown Orlando. UCF Go Baby Go! was established in 2015 as a chapter of the national Go Baby Go! program, which develops innovative, accessible ways to improve the lives of children and adults with limited mobility. The program creates modified ride-on toy cars for young children and portable-assistive harness systems for children and adults.

Jennifer Tucker, who runs the program at UCF and is a lecturer in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, will provide a workshop for parents and physical therapists from Orlando Health. Tucker will address how important mobility is for a child’s development and she will talk about the local and national efforts of Go Baby Go!

“This is about independent mobility,” Tucker said. “We know that getting children mobile isn’t just a necessary part of their physical therapy. It is also a critical part in a child’s socialization, growth and future potential. This is about so much more than a car. This is about giving a child an opportunity at a future that includes not being left on the sidelines as their peers move ahead.”

Afterwards, the attendees will join UCF volunteers who will help them build the modified ride-on toy cars at the hospital. Ten children will be able to take the vehicles home. One car will stay at the hospital to give pediatric patients an opportunity for a fun driving experience during hospital stays.

GoBabyGo is a national effort to provide children without the ability to walk, a way to get around. The organization retrofits motorized toy cars for children with special needs. UCF has been working with the creator, University of Delaware professor Cole Galloway, and his nonprofit to bring the same opportunity to Central Florida. The local group, led by physical therapy professor Jennifer Tucker, held its third big “build” event from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Fairwinds Alumni Center on the main campus.

This time Tucker and her student therapists teamed up with the Orlando Health to bring the little cars to Central Florida. Children came from Orlando, Winter Garden, St. Cloud, Volusia, Daytona Beach and Perry, Florida. But the need is so high in in the Southeast that one family drove in from Bishop, Georgia, for a chance to get a free vehicle.

Volunteers from Orlando Health, Orlando City Soccer, Arnold Palmer Invitational and UCF’s physical therapy program met the families and assisted in the building of the vehicles. Then the children raced them under an official NASCAR checker flag on Memory Mall while the families, volunteers and special guests cheered on the young drivers.

“This is a community need that we don’t necessarily hear enough about,” said Lainie Fox Ackerman, director of community benefit at Orlando Health. “We wanted to help bring local families this innovative yet simple option to get their kids moving. The joy on a child’s face and the freedom the program brings will have an immeasurable impact on their future.”

Tucker, who has a waiting list of more than 30 families who are interested in getting a motorized toy car, said the event isn’t about a cute photo opportunity.

“This is about independent mobility,” Tucker said. “We know that getting children mobile isn’t just a necessary part of their physical therapy. It is also a critical part in a child’s socialization, growth and future potential. This is about so much more than a car. This is about giving a child an opportunity at a future that includes not being left on the sidelines as their peers move ahead.”

Megan Mueller said she expects the car to be life-changing for her son Lucas.

“It was really exciting to put him in there for the first time today, to see him strapped in there and just to know that he had the ability to move on his own,” she said. “I teared up a little, to know that he had that experience to just go and move and have fun.”

During the event parents and community guests also had an opportunity to see a special harness system developed by Cole and Enliten LLC.

It provides children and adults with the ability to move. The harness system is especially helpful for people who have traumatic brain injury and who have difficulty balancing for very long.

But the physical therapy lecturer took a break Saturday night to accept a President’s Award from the NDSC for her work on UCF Go Baby Go!, a mobility initiative she founded last year in the College of Health and Public Affairs.

Tucker received the award from NDSC President Marilyn Tolbert in recognition ɫ���� Go Baby Go!’s efforts to improve “the lives of individuals with Down syndrome through research and community outreach.”

For more than a year Tucker has partnered with Professor Cole Galloway, the nationally recognized founder of Go Baby Go! at the University of Delaware, to establish a Go Baby Go! program at UCF. She’s worked tirelessly with UCF colleagues to hold Go Baby Go! workshops where physical therapy students and staff members join families and community members to retrofit motorized toy cars for children in need of enhanced mobility. Earlier this year she helped launch Knights on the Go Café at UCF as the first site in Florida to demonstrate the Go Baby Go! harness system for adults recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

At the NDSC convention Tucker and Galloway presented a workshop on the influence of mobility in the development of infants and young children. They also demonstrated a Go Baby Go! motorized toy car and the harness system. The next day Tucker led a team of physical therapy students and an engineering student from UCF as they conducted a workshop for siblings of children with Down syndrome.

“The team managed about 40 siblings who helped retrofit three toy cars that were auctioned off that evening,” said Patrick Pabian, director of UCF’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program and a workshop participant. “It was a great way to educate the siblings about the need for mobility.”

Both Tucker and Pabian said there was a great deal of interest in Go Baby Go! among convention goers, which numbered in the thousands. They’ve also seen great interest among local community members.

Tucker said she was honored and humbled to accept UCF Go Baby Go!’s President’s Award from the NDSC, which consists of the “families and children we serve.” She also said she’s thankful to the university, college and program’s leadership and administration for their continued support and encouragement.

“Together we can continue to create opportunities for fun and mobility for children with mobility impairments,” she said.

Among the other 2016 NDSC award recipients is Florida Sen. Andy Gardiner, who received the Exceptional Meritorious Service Award for his efforts to improve “the lives of individuals with disabilities in Florida.”

UCF physical therapy faculty members and students, administrators, and engineering students, along with family and community members, gathered for the workshop Dec. 4, from 1 to 5 p.m., at UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center.

They modified off-the-shelf toy cars for 16 toddlers with limited mobility using readily available parts. Afterwards the children learned to drive their cars and had an opportunity to explore their surroundings.

Research shows that children with new-found mobility are empowered to be part of the action. They demonstrate increased social interaction, motor skills and cognitive development.

GoBabyGo is a national movement led by Cole Galloway, a professor, physical therapist and associate chair at the University of Delaware. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation fund much of his work.

Galloway worked with Jennifer Tucker, a UCF physical therapy faculty member and pediatric physical therapist, to lead the latest workshop. They led the first UCF Go Baby Go! toy car workshop in May, when cars were built for 11 children.

Community interest in the UCF mobility initiative has grown considerably since the first workshop, Tucker said. New mobility projects and additional workshops are being planned for the coming months in partnership with Galloway.

Learn more about UCF Go Baby Go! at www.ucfgobabygo.org.

View additional photos at https://bit.ly/1TUFQ5c.

(Top photo by Abi Bell)